Certification Tracks

In 2014 POLICE TECHNICAL authorized the recognition and certification of personnel who successfully completed course work and comprehensive exams in 5 different tracks of instruction. Completion of a single track entails no less than 80 hours of course work. Each Certification Track consists of one (1) Primary Course, three (3) Core Courses, and one (1) Elective Course.

Certification is currently only open to active law enforcement personnel. Personnel who have attended POLICE TECHNICAL classes between Jan 1, 2012 and December 31, 2013 will be grandfathered into the Certification track without testing.

1. What is AAI Certification?

AAI certification is nationally recognized as the standard of achievement for personnel who provide analytical and intelligence support for law enforcement departments and agencies.

Law enforcement departments need personnel who possess the expertise to provide criminal and statistical analysis in: cell phone data, cell tower/site mapping, and the general presentation of statistical, digital, and computer related evidence to decision makers and in court.

The skills that AAI certification evaluates are the building blocks of success in the field.

2. Why AAI Certification?

In the post–terrorism environment personnel tasked with analyzing national security information for threats increasingly worked for state and local law enforcement. Agencies first accessed these professionals through federal grants and fusion centers, but the demand for intelligence analysis has outpaced capacity in many areas. To better support law enforcement’s needs, POLICE TECHNICAL began providing training in analytical techniques. These original training courses created the foundation of the national AAI Certification offered today.

3. Who earns AAI certification?

AAI Certification is designed for:

Sworn law enforcement personnel: to apply analysis techniques to criminal investigations and reduce their reliance on analysts for case support

Non-sworn support personnel: to better support analytical assignments in a law enforcement environment

Analysts: to provide training beyond that of state and federal entities and to improve communication in the workplace and courtroom

Agency executives: to make stronger decisions for their department and community

4. Benefits

Benefits of the holding the AAI Certification include:

Nationally recognized mark of excellence in analytics

Showing dedication to continuing education

Validating knowledge of analysis and intelligence in the law enforcement field

Increased value to peers, agency, and community

Competitive advantage of the holder over peers when seeking promotion

5. How to Become AAI Certified

To achieve AAI Certification candidates must successfully complete the primary course, three supporting core courses, and an one elective course.

Analytics for Public Safety (Primary Course)Analytics: The discovery and communication of meaningful patterns in data. Making a difference for a department is more than building a case. Analytics for Public Safety combines foundational techniques with decision making skills.

Excel for Public Safety (Core Course)Get the most out of the program you use daily. Even experienced analysts have benefited from the techniques, lessons and instruction with this course.

Cell Phone Data and Mapping (Core Course)Make sense of the data, find patterns, and clearly map the movements of the cell phone. Pen-Link and Analyst's Notebook are great, but it's time to learn something new.

PowerPoint for Public Safety (Core Course)This is the national standard for the presentation of law enforcement related data. Make bomb proof PowerPoint presentations for your department and for court. Learn the same techniques prosecutors use in capital murder jury trials: how to build them and, more importantly, how to deliver them.

Candidates must submit a written request and course documentation for Certification Award

7. Maintain your Certification

Certifications may be renewed annually after the initial 2-year period if the holders take a 16-hour course from the original certification track series. They must do this within their second year of being awarded certification.

Certifications may be renewed annually, indefinitely.

Certifications that have lapsed may be renewed on an individually based committee review.

There is currently no additional cost for certification (beyond that of the initial training). There is no cost for testing or renewal.

1. What is AAP Certification?

AAP Certification is the nationally recognized standard of achievement for law enforcement officers and intelligence analysts who utilize standard office productivity applications.

Office productivity software is common within law enforcement, but most departments do not provide training to use the software. Most personnel are self-taught and the few with some training receive it from college or local government sources not associated with law enforcement.

Skills gained from this certification provide a foundation for successful development in all areas of law enforcement. AAP leads to strengthened performance in analysis, administration, documentation investigations as well as public and courtroom presentations.

2. Why AAP Certification?

A person who has gone through AAP certification knows the proper way to leverage desktop software for an agency’s benefit. Not even the software manufacturer can provide this level of training. Simply put: the software developer doesn’t know what law enforcement does with their software, and honestly because the market is small, they don’t care.

Law enforcement academies and agencies understand the need for training and certification. Weapons, driving, and defensive tactics require proven proficiency for an officer to maintain the status. Historically, word processing and other data related tasks were the domain of support personnel and secretaries. In the age of mobile data terminals, laptops, and tablets in every squad car, this outdated thinking is no longer the case. Police officers need a complete understanding of these systems as much as they must comprehend radio operations and case law.

3. Who earns AAP Certification?

AAP Certification is designed for:

All sworn law enforcement personnel: to apply the best practices to software packages, improving every aspect of their jobs.

Intelligence officers and crime analysts: to provide them with techniques to speed up analysis and document development, enhancing their ability to present cases internally and in court.

Tactical personnel: to learn new capabilities that support intelligence gathering, warrant documentation, raid planning and development, mission briefs/debriefs, and presentations for internal use and in court.

Supervisors and administrators: to enhance their understanding of the capabilities of off-the-shelf software packages and what products and performance can be expected from fully trained personnel.

4. Benefits

Benefits of the holding the AAP Certification include:

Nationally recognized mark of excellence in investigations

Validating knowledge of common desktops applications

Recognition of work and educational experience, providing you with increased credibility the workplace and in courtroom.

Increased value to peers, management, agency, and community

Competitive advantage of the holder over peers when seeking promotion

5. How to Become AAP Certified

To achieve AAP Certification candidates must successfully complete the primary course, three supporting core courses, and an one elective course.

PowerPoint for Public Safety (Primary Course)This is the national standard for the presentation of law enforcement related data. Make bomb proof PowerPoint presentations for your department and for court. Learn the same techniques prosecutors use in capital murder jury trials: how to build them and, more importantly, how to deliver them.

Excel for Public Safety (Core Course)Get the most out of the program you use daily. Even experienced analysts have benefited from the techniques, lessons and instruction with this course.

Google for Public Safety (Core Course)Google is more than a search engine; its the first step in Open Source Investigations and a doorway to law enforcement ready, free applications including: Social media (Google+), mapping for tactical applications and CDR data (Google Earth), and communications (Google Voice and Translate).

Word & Adobe for Public Safety (Core Course)Proficiency in creating documents is as important as writing the report itself. Learn how to create and format a professional document, securely distribute it, and leverage the Cloud for your departments digital storage.

Candidates submit a written request and course documentation for Certification Award

7. Maintain your Certification

Certifications may be renewed annually after the initial 2-year period if the holders take a 16-hour course from the original certification track series. They must do this within their second year of being awarded certification.

Certifications may be renewed annually, indefinitely.

Certifications that have lapsed may be renewed on an individually based committee review.

There is currently no additional cost for certification (beyond that of the initial training). There is no cost for testing or renewal.

1. What is CPI Certification?

CPI Certification is the nationally recognized standard of achievement for law enforcement officers and intelligence analysts who investigate crimes where a mobile device, call detail records, and/or cell site may yield evidence.

Criminals utilize cell phones to plan, execute, and evade apprehension. Law enforcement can use mobile phone technology against criminals and their ongoing enterprises. CPI Certification gives law enforcement officers of any background an arsenal of tools such as: legal principals on search and seizure, proper physical and digital evidence handling, recovering evidence from phones, call detail record analysis, cell tower/cell site tracking and mapping, and controlling communications in a tactical environment.

Skills gained from completing the CPI Certification lead to successful criminal investigations and conspiracy crimes investigations such as drug trafficking and gangs. Certification holders are competent in investigating multiple facets of mobile device and communications cases.

2. Why CPI Certification?

Mobile device investigations are complex. Numerous sources can be used for evidence and intelligence including the device, records the service provider maintains, and application data. Most training courses only address an avenue of investigation without considering other possibilities. Additionally, agencies may struggle with a budget, allocating scarce funds to get one piece that will meet their needs, only to find they can’t recover what the key evidence required for their cases.

CPI certification courses are vendor neutral. The core courses are presented so that every investigator or analyst who attends is equipped with the resources to exploit all available information.

Cell Phone Data and Mapping (Core Course)Make sense of the data, find patterns, and clearly map the movements of the cell phone. Pen-Link and Analyst's Notebook are great, but it's time to learn something new.

Excel for Public Safety (Core Course)Get the most out of the program you use daily. Even experienced analysts have benefited from the techniques, lessons and instruction with this course.

Candidates must submit a written request and course documentation for Certification Award

7. Maintain your Certification

Certifications may be renewed annually after the initial 2-year period if the holders take a 16-hour course from the original certification track series. They must do this within their second year of being awarded certification.

Certifications may be renewed annually, indefinitely.

Certifications that have lapsed may be renewed on an individually based committee review.

There is currently no additional cost for certification (beyond that of the initial training). There is no cost for testing or renewal.

1. What is OSI Certification?

OSI Certification is the nationally recognized standard of achievement for law enforcement personnel, analysts and supporting staff whose responsibility is the investigation, case development and prosecution of criminal behavior and actions which intersect with internet/web-based activity.

Most crime has an online nexus. Whether it is the photographic evidence of the crime itself posted to a social media channel, the sale of stolen merchandise listed on a online marketplace, or the solicitation of minors in chat rooms, each of these real world crimes have a very footprint in the online world. The OSI certification track seeks to first, expose law enforcement personnel to a world, which in some cases they didn’t even know existed, and then secondly, to show them how to investigate the activities of that world as if it were a physical space.

Skills gained from completing the OSI Certification provide personnel a foundation for successful online investigation of real world criminal acts. With this certification personnel will be competent in applying the best practices for proactively investigating criminal behavior across the entire spectrum of online and social media services including well known sites like Facebook and Google and less traveled spaces such as the Dark Web.

2. Why OSI Certification?

Open source investigation seeks the utilize the best in openly available (i.e. free) software and platforms to investigate criminal activities. Certification in this field is important because of the huge gulf often associated with what criminals doing and what law enforcement can prove in a court of law. Law enforcement typically knows it is “behind”. Behind in current technology. Behind in current processes. And behind in current criminal trends. This is no less true regarding criminal activity online. With the ability of criminals to change locations and appearances within a few minutes (online) investigators need to follow a proven track to succeed in this space.

The OSI certification ensures personnel are equipped to effectively investigate the online world without regard to any specific site or technology. It demonstrates the best practices for leading proactive investigations as well as responding to criminal reports.

3. Who earns OSI Certification?

OSI Certification is designed for:

Investigators and Detectives: to provide them with a practical foundation for the investigation and management of criminal cases involving the internet.

Investigation Supervisors: to provide them with a working knowledge of the capabilities of, and the requirements for an online investigator.

Technology Support Personnel: to provide them with the process and tools to effectively support online investigation details.

Analysts: to provide them with the an overall goal of an online investigation detail so they might better support, and in many cases, guide the overall efforts of the agency.

4. Benefits

Benefits of holding the OSI Certification include:

Nationally recognized mark of excellence in investigations

Showing dedication to continuing education

Confirming your commitment to integrated, proactive investigations which benefit the community

Demonstrating you have acquired the skills to lead an online investigation

Recognition of work and educational experience, giving you increased credibility internally and in court

5. How to Become OSI Certified

To achieve OSI Certification, candidates must successfully complete the primary course, three supporting core courses, and one elective course.

Open Source Investigations (Primary Course)Foundation for the Open Source Investigations track, This course provides information, sites, and process for investigations using (predominately) free, open, public sources of information.

Online Investigations (Core Course)This course provides a leadership foundation for the acquisition, deployment, management, and resolution of technology within law enforcement; make the right decisions, eliminate waste, and meet long term goals.

Craigslist Investigations (Core Course)Tablets, smartphones, and their applications provide the latest tools for law enforcement. Learn how to choose them, deploy, protect your data and people, and move to the next device.

Google for Public Safety (Core Course)Google is more than a search engine; its the first step in Open Source Investigations and a doorway to law enforcement ready, free applications including: Social media (Google+), mapping for tactical applications and CDR data (Google Earth), and communications (Google Voice and Translate).

Candidates submit a written request and course documentation for Certification Award

7. Maintain your Certification

Certifications may be renewed annually after the initial 2-year period if the holders take a 16-hour course from the original certification track series. They must do this within their second year of being awarded certification.

Certifications may be renewed annually, indefinitely.

Certifications that have lapsed may be renewed on an individually based on committee review.

There is currently no additional cost for certification (beyond that of the initial training). There is no cost for testing, or renewal.